Interesting, I just checked my bike from the 30's (maybe older) And it also takes a 22.0 stem. I believe it was originally headclip type, changed to a "regular" headset
Reaming may be fine for one that has a 1 inch steerer, but mine is 15/16 or BSA thread. It's quite thin enough without reaming more out of the inside, so it may be worth checking yours to see if it's inch or 15/16 A French stem, or maybe a stem intended for a headclip type headset would be my first choice, as I hate modifying frames unless they're just common modern stuff... and even then.
Steve Birmingham Lowell, Massachusetts United States of America (And a slow typist who kinda whishes he lived somewhere like Agana , Guam)
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:28:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: dean 53x13 <dpcowboy54@yahoo.com>
To: gpvb1@comcast.net, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR] Shrinking steerer tubes
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Reaming the steerer should be no problem...you are really not taking out very much material...do it properly, with appropriate tools.
gpvb1@comcast.net wrote: Yes - I have the same issue with my 1937 Wastyn six-day racer.
I purchased a nice old Schwinn Paramount stem and bar for it, only to discover that it will only insert a couple inches. I asked around, and was told that 22.0 mm steerers were often used 'back then.'
Does anyone know the 'real truth?'
Should I (we, both of us) carefully ream the steerer? I'm not in a hurry to do that.....
Greg Parker Ann Arbor, Michigan
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:19:18 +0000 From: Neil Foddering To: Subject: [CR] Shrinking steerer tubes
I'm rebuilding my beautiful 1939 R O Harrison with Osgear ends at the moment. It has been re-enamelled in what the enameller calls eau-de-nil -it's a pale pastel green - with cream seat tube panel, and I'm very pleased with the colour scheme. However, the bike and I are not speaking to each other at the moment. I worked on it the day before yesterday, and thought I'd fit an R O Harrison chrome stem I'd bought separately. Wrong! The stem is simply too large in diameter for the steerer tube. A search through my period stems revealed that all my other handlebar stems wouldn't fit, except for a new old stock 1930's Reynolds twin bolt. It went in for a few inches, then stopped. Stupidly, I thought a couple of taps with a light mallet would encourage it, and it's now jammed, without having gone much deeper. I wasn't been able to get to grips with it yesterday (58th birthday, so otherwise engaged) and I'm dreading finding out that it's well and truly stuck.
Oddly, I've had the same problem with my 1946 Holdsworth, in that case an A&P steel stem, which Hilary had to get a friend of his to remove for me.
I've since bought the correct steel Holdsworth stem, with matching lug pattern, at great expense, and THAT won't go in the Holdsworth's steerer tube either.
What's going on? I'd assumed that the internal steerer diameters would be standard. Hilary suggested that I use a French diameter stem, or track down someone with a suitable expanding reamer, and have the steerer on each bike opened out. I hate old bikes.
Has anyone else experienced this problem? In each case, the steerer is int ended for a head clip type headset.
Neil Foddering
Weymouth, Dorset, England